Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian
$40.00
USDThe language of Ancient Egypt has been the object of careful investigation since its decipherment in the nineteenth century, but this is the first accessible account which uses the insights of modern linguistics. Antonio Loprieno traces Ancient Egyptian's historical development from Old Egyptian to Coptic, and, combining diachronic and synchronic viewpoints wherever possible, he looks at the hieroglyphic system and its cursive varieties (Hieratic and Demotic), the phonology of Classical Egyptian and Coptic, the phonology and syntax of the literary languages, and semantic and pragmatic constraints on syntax. He also looks at the genetic connections of Egyptian within the Afroasiatic family, especially with Semitic languages such as Akkadian, Arabic, and Hebrew. This book will be essential reading for linguists and Egyptologists alike.
- First linguistic (rather than philological) treatment of Old Egyptian
- Loprieno world-renowned authority in his field
- Most general linguists will want this as indispensable background to issues being debated about languages which are currently spoken
Reviews & endorsements
"Recommended as an essential introductory book to Egyptian language." The Reader's Review
"As one would expect from this expert in Afroasiatic aspect studies, this is an exemplary application of current textlinguistic thinking to an ancient language and it will certainly inform the work of any Semitist....Semitists also have a lot to gain on the subjects of word order and clausal relations. The discussions of TAM and negation functions and grammaticalization rate among the main contributions for linguists not concerned with Afroasiatic languages. Loprieno ends with a very provacative bried reference to an issue close to the life of any field linguist-the relation between writing system and cultural ideology." Andy Warren, Notes on Linguistics
"This book is no doubt a turning point in the study of Egyptian language with potential far reaching impact, and should be consulted by linguists and Egyptologists alike." Mu-Chou Poo, The International Journal of African Historical Studies
"Loprieno's book is therefore most welcome and will serve as an excellent, state-of-the-field account of Ancient Egyptian. As a general linguistic and diachronic account, it bridges the gap between specialist grammars and linguists and others who want an overview of Egyptian. The book will be particularly useful for those who teach later stages of the Egyptian language (demotic and Coptic) to students who have not done prior work in Egyptian. Those who have had some training of are at the beginning stages of learning Egyptian will find the index of passages very helpful." J.G. Manning, Stanford University
Product details
October 1995Paperback
9780521448499
340 pages
229 × 152 × 19 mm
0.5kg
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. The language of Ancient Egypt
- 2. Egyptian graphemics
- 3. Egyptian phonology
- 4. Elements of historical morphology
- 5. Nominal syntax
- 6. Adverbial and pseudoverbal syntax
- 7. Verbal syntax
- Epilogue
- References
- Indexes.
